Barker
Pollard Graham was born c.
1845 in Blackburn, Lancashire. The
1861 Census describes him, at the age of 15, as a bill inspector
(clerk) in Birkenhead, Cheshire. In late 1867 Graham married
Margaret Charnock, and a son James was born at Southport
at around the same time, although his bith was registered under the
name James Graham Charnock. In 1871, they were living in
North
Meols, where Barker was working as an upholsterer, and Margaret as a
dressmaker. There is no sign of his wife in subsequent census
records, even though he continues to be shown as "married" rather than
"widowed" until at least 1901.

Graham moved to Belper in Derbyshire, probably in the late 1870s. An
article in The
Derby Mercury
dated 4 August 1880 mentions a portrait having been taken by "Mr.
Pollard Graham." He was
shown as "Barker P. Graham" working as a photographer on census
night, 3 April 1881. With him at a house in Queen Street are
his
son "James
C.
Graham," aged 13, and his brother-in-law Michael Charnock,
also
described as a photographer. Kelly's Trade
Directory for 1881, probably compiled in late 1880, lists "Graham
Pollard & Co. gelatine dry plate manufacturers, New rd.
Belper." It seems likely that he started off supplying the
local
studios with stocks of photographic plates, and subsequently opened his
own studio.
The fairly accurately dated carte de visite photograph of Florence
Anthony (born in 1878) shown below appears to be from around this time,
i.e. early to mid-1881. A second CDV shown below, of Ann
Rebecca
Appleby (born in 1866) shows Pollard Graham with studios in Belper and
Southport, and may date from the mid-1880s. By mid-1881,
however,
he was in financial trouble, as a notice in The London Gazette
of 21 June 1881
gives notice of "the First General
Meeting of the creditors" of "Barker
Pollard Graham of Belper ... Photographer and Manufacturer of
Photographic Materials, trading as Pollard Graham & Co."
An article dated 13 July 1881 in The Derby Mercury
reports this "meeting of the
creditors of Mr. Barker Pollard Graham, trading as 'Pollard Graham and
Co., of Belper, photographer' ... held last week at the office of Mr.
W.B. Hextall, solicitor, Derby,"
which resulted in an agreement
to liquidate, and the appointment of a trustee. The Daily News
of London carried a
report on 17 February 1886 of an appeal in the Supreme Court in the
case of the "Derby Photographic Dry
Plate Company v. Pollard Graham & Co.,"
but no details are
provided.

The next
mention found
in trade directories for Pollard Graham is in Kelly's 1887, when the
firm was
operating from premises in Agard Street, Derby. An
advertisement
in The
Derby Mercury of 2
February 1887 notifies the public of the conversion to and registration
of a company, "Pollard Graham and
Company, Limited," of the "business
of gelatine bromide photographic dry plate manufacturers, carried on by
Messrs. Barker Pollard Graham, Arthur Frederick Longdon, W. Elliott
Taylor and Arthur John Cox"
on 15th January. The
shareholders of the new company, all in equal proportions, were the
aforementioned Graham, Longdon (a surgical bandage manufacturer),
Taylor (an agent) and Cox (a wine and spirit merchant), as well as T.H.
Harrison (a chartered accountant from Duffield), F. Longdon and W.H.
Goody (both also surgical bandage manufacturers). B.P. Graham
was
appointed first managing director. A further advertisement in
the
same newspaper on 6 February offers shares for sale in this company,
with applications to made at 175 Siddals Road.

On 19th March 1890, Derby auctioneers Messrs. J. & W. Heathcote
advertised in The Derby Mercury
the sale by auction of the "stock-in-trade
and working plant, including about 700 lbs. of gelatine, chemicals,
photographic apparatus, about 30 cwt. of various papers, string, glass,
a large quantity of plate boxes of various sizes, centrifugal copper
tanks, Gardener's patent chopping machine, kettles, buckets, bottles,
jars, and utensils in trade"
of Pollard Graham & Co.,
Limited, Agard Street, Derby. The same advert appeared in The Birmingham Daily Post
on 12
April 1890. It appears that the business had again failed,
and a
notice of liquidation of "Pollard Graham & Co., Limited,
Derwent
Dry Plate Works, Agard-street, Derby" appeared in the Mercury
three months later on 11
June.

Pollard Graham, however, was still taking portraits as shown by an
article in the Mercury of 27th August that same year, stating "The photograph [of
Mr. Richard
Ramsay Dinnis, proprietor and editor of The Derbyshire Advertiser] was produced by Mr.
Pollard Graham, of
Rodney Chambers, and reflected the highest credit upon him."
Kelly's trade directory for 1891 shows his studio at Rodney
Chambers (or Rodney Yard) in Corn Market, Derby.
The
census for 5 April 1891, when he was lodging with a grocer in Newland
Street, St
Werburgh's,Derby,
shows him once again
as "Barker P. Graham, photographer." By this time, his son
James
had married and had two children. The
son was
living, under the
name
James Graham, in Howard Street, New Normanton, Derby, and showed his
profession as "photographic artist." Presumably he was
working
for his father in the studio at Rodney Chambers.

In October 1892, Pollard Graham displayed some of his prints at an
exhibition of the "new
gelatino-chloride
[photographic] papers invented by
the
Eastman's
Photographic Material Company ... known as 'Eastman's solio paper',"
at the Bell Hotel in Derby.

Later directory entries for 1895, 1899 and 1912 show the studio at the
same premises until at least 1926. Pollard Graham was
boarding at
a house in Cowley Street, Derby in 1901, describing himself as a
"photographer - employer." His son James C. Graham
was still working as
a
"photographic operator," but had moved with his family, which had by
this
time grown, with the addition of three more children, to Ashfield Road
in South Manchester.

In the early 1900s, Pollard Graham was in partnership with one Albert
Hutchinson, presumably an investor in the business, and this
partnership may have resulted in the profusion of new branch openings
in Burnley, Rotherham, Coventry and Longton. The London Gazette
reports the
dissolution of this partnership on 22 March 1915. Graham's
son
appears to have subsequently been a partner in the business, as
evidenced by another London Gazette
notification, dated 19 July 1927: "the
Partnership heretofore subsisting between us, the undersigned, Pollard
Graham and James Charnock Graham, carrying on business as Photographers
at 12A Bridge-street, Northampton, 25 Newland-street, Kettering and
Exchange-arcade, Wellingborough, all in the county of Northampton, and
at Rodney Chambers, Cornmarket, in the county borough of Derby, under
the style or firm of Pollard Graham & Son, has been dissolved
by
mutual consent as and from the 4th day of October, 1926."
Pollard Graham retained his interest in the Derby branch, while his son
took over all three Northamptonshire branches.

During the 1890s and 1900s Pollard Graham (later Pollard Graham
& Co.) operated studios in many other
locations,
including Rotherham & Burnley (Yorkshire), Northampton
& Peterborough (Northamptonshire), two
addresses
in Station Street, Burton-upon-Trent (c1890-1900), Burslem, Longton
&
Leigh (all in Staffordshire), Luton (Bedfordshire), Lincoln
(Lincolnshire), Coventry & Birmingham (Warwickshire), Southport
and
Wigan
(Lancashire).
Craven (1993) describes the studio in Derby as staying in business
until 1912, and a large format photograph taken at around this time
shows the "head office and works" at 108A Friargate. Kelly's
directory for that year shows Pollard Graham living at 5 Arboretum
Square in Derby, and a post card photograph included in the portfolio
below shows two maids in a garden, probably at this address.
Another
post card photograph dated c.1932
indicates
that they were operating at least until that date.

The following is a complete list of all Pollard Graham's branch studios found thus
far, with locations and known dates of operation. Please contact
me if you have details of any
other studio sightings, premises or
additional dates. I am especially interested in dated
photographs which are known to have come from particular studio.

Florence
Anthony (b. 1878), aged 2½
by Pollard Graham, probably at the Alexandra Studios in New Road,
Belper
Undated, but probably taken in early to mid-1881Size: 64mm x 104mmFormat: Carte de
VisiteCard printed by
Marion
Imp Paris

Notes:
Inscribed
on reverse, "Florence Anthony aged
2½".
Florence's
father
William Bennet Anthony was Headmaster of Belper Grammar
School. Her
mother
Annie Sarah was the second daughter of Jonathan Fletcher of
Pentrich. Her birth registration was in the 3rd Quarter 1878.

Unidentified
young woman
by Pollard Graham of New Road, Belper & North End, Wirksworth
Undated, but probably taken in the early 1880sFormat: Carte de
Visite

Notes (MJ &
BP): Ann
Rebecca Appleby was born at Thurvaston, Derbyshire, and baptised at
Christchurch, Long Lane, Derbyshire on 5 May 1866 (see Martin's web
pages for more
details). As a teenager she worked as a general
servant on a farm at Sutton-on-the-Hill, Derbyshire. This
photograph was probably taken in the late 1880s, when she would have
been in her early 20s.

Notes (MJ &
BP): Hannah Bull was born at Hollington, Derbyshire and baptised there
on 12 February 1832 (see Martin's web
pages
for more details). She married Anthony Appleby (1832-1902) at
Brailsford
in 1852; they lived at Hollington and had six children between 1852 and
1870. Hannah Appleby died aged 75 in 1907.

Anthony Appleby (1832-1902)by Pollard
Graham of Rodney Chambers,
Corn Market, Derby
Undated, but probably taken in the early to mid-1890sFormat: Carte de
Visite

Notes (MJ & BP): Anthony Appleby was born in May 1832 at
Sutton-on-the-Hill, Derbsyhire and baptised there on 10 Jun 1832 (see
Martin's web
pages
for more details). He married Hannah Bull (1832-1907) at
Brailsford
in 1852; they lived at Hollington and had six children between 1852 and
1870. Anthony Appleby died aged 70 in 1902.

John Tipper (1841-1931)
by Pollard Graham of Rodney Chambers, Corn Market, Derby
Undated, but probably taken in the early to mid-1890sFormat: Carte de
Visite

Notes (MJ & BP): John Tipper was born at Hollington, Derbyshire
and
baptises on 24 October 1841 (for further details, visit Martin's web
site). He married Mary
(surname unknown) in about 1863, and
they had ten children in Hollington betwen then and 1881.
John
Tipper was a wheelwright, shopkeeper and postmaster. He died
at
Ebenezer Cottage, Hollington on 19 Apr 1931, aged 89.

Notes:
C.V.
Payne
married Amy Robinson at St. Thomas Church, Derby on 18 May 1891, and
they
left for the United States before August that year, giving August 1891
as the latest date that photograph could have been taken. It
is
suspected
that the fancy dress was used in order to publicise Charles' intended
career
in vaudeville in the US. The mounting does not,
unfortunately,
show
the address of the studio. However, the following photo,
taken
before
February 1892, does indicate that he had moved to Rodney Chambers by
that
time, so perhaps this mount was used at the previous premises in Agard
Street.

Note by CH:
Samuel &
Mary Haywood
emigrated to the USA some time between 6 April 1891 and 11 February
1892,
so the latter date is the latest that this photograph could have been
taken.
Note by BP (Feb 2007): Samuel and Mary Haywood and their three
children, Mary Ann, Thomas & Ellen arrived in New York on board
the
"City of Berlin" from Liverpool on 18 April 1891. Assuming
that
they left England about two to three weeks earlier, the latest date for
this photograph is therefore revised to March 1891.

Notes by
DS: Pollard Graham was probably selected because her cousin
Letitia Harber was a retoucher at P G in Derby certainly up to 1901.
The book has an advert for Players Navy Cut inside the back cover.

Notes: Sarah
Emma
Parker married Charles
Hallam Payne (1870-1960) at St Mark's, Leicester on 11 July
1894.
They lived at 38 St. James' Street, New Normanton, Derby, where they
ran the family grocery/off licence until soon after the First World
War, when
they
retired to live at Dale Cottage, Ingleby.

Notes by MM:
Here is a photo of my
grandmother's nephew, Arthur Barrett. He is the son of her
older brother, Arthur Barrett. My mother told me that he had
lost an eye and that was why photos of him were taken from the side.

Notes by
JC: The subjects are my gg-grandparents. Leonard
was born
Oakley, Bedfordshire in 1849, Ann born Bromham, Bedfordshire in 1848.
They married on 3 July 1870 at the Parish Church in Oakley. The first
child was born in Oakley, but by the time of the 1871 census they were
living in Derby. From 1881 to 1901 they were at 12 Fox St. Derby. In
1871 and 1901 he is descibed as "railway porter", so we think moved up
the Midland mainline from Bedford to Derby with the railway company.

Notes by AG: possibly
Robert Brown. The Browns were a Wigan
family, and the Penningtons were at that time Golborne (outlying
village from Wigan). All of these places are a morning's walk from each
other, but Wigan seems more likely, if only for proximity (but the card
says Leigh ... then why would you walk 2 miles more to get to Leigh of
all places? even then it was a dump!). I was back in the area a few
weeks ago for a funeral. P-G's shop is currently swallowed by Smith's
bookshop, which seems to have been knocked through from next door.

Notes by DR: Henry
was born Henry Collinson to Martha
Ellen Collinson in 1881 when she was working as a "servant" at Rodgers
Farm in Lathom, Lancashire, which was run by Ann Martland at the
time. She married Ann's son, Thomas Elisha Martland in the
June
quarter of the same year and he is probably Henry's father as Henry
changed his name to Martland on susequent census forms. He was known in
the family as Harry.

Note: The stamp appears
to be the one of the green half-penny George V stamps issued in 1911
and 1912 (shown at right), and replaced by another issue in 1912, but
it is difficult to be sure.

If the identification of the stamp is
correct, then
the post card can be dated to c. 1911-1912, or shortly before the First
World War. The style of clothing seems to be about right for
this
era. Kelly's 1912 Directory for Derbyshire shows the occupant
of
5 Arboretum Square to have been Pollard Graham, the photographer, so it
would seem safe to assume that Frances Rankin, and perhaps her
companion, worked as maids for the photographer.

Notes
by AR: Grandfather was born in Doncaster, Yorkshire in 1870, and died
in 1962 as the result of an accident, aged 91. Mother was
born in
1904 at Olcoates, Nottinghamshire, and died in 1986, aged 81.

Notes by
CM: These two
photos are of my grandfather Amos Whiteman's sister Lucy (left) and her
daughter Eva (above left). In 1900 Lucy married George Selby,
who became manager of the Co-op store in Milford. When Eva was quite young, they moved to Derby, where
they bought
a greengrocer's shop on Normanton Road and lived in Society Place,
Derby.

Unidentified
woman
by Pollard Graham of Rodney Chambers, Corn Market, DerbyUndated, but prob. taken
in the late 1920s to early 1930s
Format: Postcard
Negative No. 31939

Notes
from Barry: Photo of my grandfather, Walter Muir, born Govan, nr
Glasgow,
Scotland on 20 Nov 1860, a blacksmith. He died in Derby on 23
Nov
1934, and I can only refer you to another photo,
dated 24 Feb 1928, wearing a bowler hat. He has obviously
aged
somewhat
within that period of some 6 years so I am assuming that it might well
have been taken about 1932.

Ada Mary
Oxspring (b. 1905),
by Pollard Graham Studios of Derby,Undated, but prob. taken
in the mid- to late 1920s
Format: Postcard
Negative No. 33912